Thursday, September 11, 2014

This Halloween after six consecutive years of attending West Hollywood's Annual Halloween Carnaval festivities, I'll be missing the dressing up as I'll be on a plane to run the New York Marathon that same weekend. If I was looking for costume inspiration though, these ten outfits from the worlds of film and TV sci-fi, fantasy and super-heroics would be a good start.

Star-Lord

No one is asking who 'Star-Lord' is this Summer after a stellar performance at the box office by Guardians of the Galaxy, making Chris Pratt's half human/half alien cosmic comedian an instantly recognisable character, just think of the outer space Marvel hero as a modern day 'Han Solo'.

I'm sure more than a few men will be rocking Star-Lord's signature Ravager look this Halloween, to accompany all the Gamora costumes do doubt and I love having the opportunity to see this short red leather jacket version of his outfit up close at ArcLight Sherman Oaks cinema in August this year.

Even though everyone is eagerly anticipating the arrival of 'Thanos' in action in the Marvel cinematic universe, the Asgardian god of mischief, lies and trickery has been the stand out villain to date.Tom Hiddleston's performance as Thor's wicked half-brother has been a real crowd pleaser at conventions and fan-favourite on the big screen, and it was a real treat to see this Loki movie costume from Thor: The Dark Worldon display in the foyer of ArcLight Sherman Oaks cinema last November.

If it's evil villains you're looking to portray this Halloween, look no further than Batman's psychotic nemesis 'The Joker'. This colourful version is the costume famously worn by Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton's 1989 blockbuster Batman and designed by Bob Ringwood.

This iconic costume was photographed on display at theBatman 75th Anniversary exhibit at Warner Bros. Studios VIP Tour Museum in July this year alongside a multitude of other original costumes and props from all seven Batman movies to date. You can't go wrong with a classic creepy costume.

Electro

Earlier this year one of Spider-man's super-foes made his big screen debut in the form of the electrically powered, 'Electro', played by Jamie Foxx.

Even though his campy origin wasn't everyone's cup of tea in The Amazing Spider-man 2, his updated look designed by Deborah Lynn Scott was certainly super-villain chic. This original screen-used costume was photographed on display at ArcLight Hollywood cinema in April this year.

Maleficent's King Stefan

I'm always a sucker for a great suit of armour, and this costume designed by Anna B. Sheppard and worn by Sharlto Copley as the duplicitous 'King Stefan' in Disney's live-action Maleficent movie is no exception. This regal battle armour was snapped on display at Hollywood's infamous El Capitan Theatre in June this year.

Speaking about going into battle, it was a real treat to see this costume worn by John Hurt as the previously unrevealed 'War Doctor' from the British sci-fi institution, Doctor Who.

This television outfit worn by the Time Lord along with his war ravaged TARDIS from the 50th anniversary special, 'The Day of the Doctor', was photographed on display at the Doctor Who Experiencein Cardiff Bay, Wales in December 2013.

Thorin Oakenshield

From time-traveling aliens to royal dwarves, and this majestic fur-trimmed rich midnight blue velvet outfit was worn by Richard Armitage as 'Thorin Oakenshield' in the second installment of The Hobbit movie trilogy.

Batman & Robin may have been a total disaster of a movie, but I couldn't help but be excited about seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger's illuminated armoured cryo-suit on display at the Batman 75th Anniversary exhibit at the Warner Bros. Studios VIP Tour Museum this July.

This was one of my favourite original costumes featured in the exhibition which included costumes, props and models from all seven Batman movies to date.

Serenity's Mal Reynolds

Back in January this year I had the pleasure of spying Nathan Fillion's 'Mal Reynolds' costume from Serenity on display at Universal Studios Hollywood's film and TV archive exhibit.

I came late to the party with Serenity, watching the Joss Whedon movie first without any knowledge of the Firefly TV series, then rushing out to buy and binge-watch the entire fourteen episodes of the sci-fi Western that was cancelled way too soon.

The Amazing Spider-man

Finally, you can't go wrong with a spider-suit (I've worn one several times to the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval) and this version from The Amazing Spider-man 2 was much closer to its comic book origins, with the bigger eyes in the mask and more traditional red, black and blue webbed pattern than the first costume from the franchise reboot.

Don't delay to decide though, as time is ticking by for this year's festivities and finding your size or making something bespoke needs some time and thought. Whatever you settle on, be sure to have a blast.